The Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom were over 21. It received royal assent on July 27, 1967, but applied only to England and Wales and did not cover the Merchant Navy or the Armed Forces.

Fifty years on, Paddy Shennan asks Dave Williams, who will be 70 next month, what it was like to be a gay man before the law changed – while Dave also reflects on how attitudes have, and in some cases haven’t, changed since the 1960s.

We met Dave, from Wallasey, at The Armistead Project in Hanover Street, Liverpool – a sexual health and well-being service for the LGBT community.

Before 1967, how would you describe life for homosexuals who faced being criminalised for their sexuality?

“Things were very cloak and dagger. I used to go to a place, which has long gone, called the Empress Club on Victoria Road in New Brighton. The guy who owned it would peep through the window, and if he knew you he would let you in. People had a real fear of being arrested before the law changed (and that fear remained if you were under 21 – I was 20 when the Act was passed).

For many gay men, the only way to meet other gay men was by going to male public toilets. That sounds sleazy and it WAS sleazy, but it was what many men felt they had to do. It was a case of living on your nerves, fearful that police officers would come to the toilets – and often they did, to entrap gay men.”

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Just how fearful were gay men in this era – and did you resent being made to feel like this?

“You were very scared for your safety in certain situations. I wouldn’t walk across to the Empress until I’d looked over from a safe distance to make sure I wouldn’t be seen going in. I would also take different routes. And you wouldn’t come out of the club on your own, just in case you were seen by people who would be hostile to you. While I was happy and comfortable with being a gay man, I was very resentful about the way society was – and how it made me and others feel. Homosexuality was frowned upon generally, while people felt they were being targeted by the police.

"I remember hearing about a sauna being raided by police – and they took about six van loads of officers to carry out the raid! These sort of things would happen, and it ended up with gay men feeling they were being forced underground. Some men led double lives – a lot of them were married – and they faced being ‘named and shamed’. Even if people weren’t being taken to court, you’d hear stories of police officers threatening to tell the wives of gay men.”

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How did your sexuality affect your day to day life?

“I never denied I was gay – if somebody asked me I said ‘Yes’ – but I wouldn’t volunteer the information. I worked for various TV firms, and when I was with Visionhire aged 18 or 19 I remember a colleague asked ‘Are you gay?’ I said ‘Yes’ and she replied ‘Oh, that’s fine – we had a feeling you were’. Another lady was very protective of me and said ‘If anyone says anything to you they will have to deal with me!’

The worst thing that’s ever happened to me was when I was in a public toilet in Bromborough once and got beaten up and left with a broken nose by a gang of lads. I was 24 or 25. But I have never, ever wished I wasn’t who I am.”

Did you feel a change in the law was coming?

“No, I didn’t think it was going to happen. Sometimes I thought we would be campaigning, struggling and having to be secretive throughout our lives. We didn’t know it was definitely going to happen – finally – in 1967. And while the law may have changed, that didn’t mean the negative attitudes of a lot of people were going to change – and they didn’t! And in some cases, although there has been a lot of progress generally, they still haven’t.”

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What was the immediate reaction among the gay community when the law was changed?

“People did give a big sigh of relief, but they realised they still had to be very careful. There was still a lot of hostility. When I was in my early 30s, I was arrested while sitting in my car – essentially for wearing a fur coat! Two officers told me I looked ‘like a queer’. When I got to the station, the desk sergeant couldn’t apologise enough and I was taken back to my car.”

How have things changed for the better over the years – and how do young gay men respond to the trials you went through?

“There are gay quarters, many more gay clubs and bars, Pride marches and gay men can now often be seen walking hand in hand in public – while many people feel they can now be quite flamboyant in public. But it’s been slow progress. I used to go to Brighton because it was more relaxed, open and accepted there. And when you tell young gay men what it was like in the late 1960s – and even much later than that – they are gobsmacked! I certainly wish I had been born later.

The Liverpool Pride March in 2013 (Image: David Munn)

"And because of the way we had to live we couldn’t say, as you can today, ‘This is my husband’ or ‘This is my partner’. If a gay man introduced his partner to a non-gay friend or even family member he would simply be introduced as a friend. And we had our own language. For example, if someone wanted to know if another man was gay he would ask ‘Are you a friend of Dorothy?’ That was used a hell of a lot, along with innuendo and Polari – a kind of gay slang made famous by actors like Larry Grayson and Kenneth Williams.

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"In many cases, though, things haven’t changed. The law changed 50 years ago, but I’ve had people say it should STILL be against the law! I just say ‘Why?’ And then I ask them if they know what the word ‘gay’ stands for? I tell them ‘G-A-Y: Good As You. We’re as good as you’ and it makes them think. So progress has been slow in many ways, and we need to continue educating people – and encouraging people to report hate crime.

But I think we should celebrate the 50th anniversary, and reflect on everything we have gone through, achieved and passed down to younger people – because, to me, what we have passed down is freedom.”